Throughout Scripture we are told that it is a very good thing to pray in all situations. We Americans seem to believe that is true. In the year 2000 a Gallup poll found that 90% of Americans pray. Eighty-six percent of Americans said they believed in God. (I wonder to whom the other 4% were praying?) Eighty-three percent said that they favor prayer at graduation ceremonies, and 70% said they favor Christian prayer in school!
Jesus said a great deal about prayer. His Disciples saw the power of His prayers and asked Him, “Master, teach us to pray.” Notice they never said, “Teach us how to do miracles,” or “Teach us how to teach,” or “Teach us how to love others.” The one thing about Jesus’ life that the disciples wanted to imitate was His prayer life.
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus shared a parable about prayer with His disciples and with us. Then He shared a parable about how we should never quit praying , but rather, we should P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Something Happens).
In the story there is a judge “who did not fear God, nor cared about men” and a widow who “kept coming to him and crying, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’” For some time the judge refused to grant her request. But he finally said to himself, “Even though I do not fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t wear me out with her coming.” Then Jesus said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the Earth?”
So here is this widow, who has someone trying to take advantage of her. They were probably trying to cheat her out of money or land that her husband had left her, as this was very common in those days, due to the fact that women had very few rights. Not only that, but this poor woman also had to deal with a terrible judge. In those days, judgeships were bought and sold, and a crooked judge could make quite a lot of money from bribes that took place often. This widow, though, had no money to bribe the wicked judge, so her only recourse was to continually come before him and make a nuisance of herself with her repeated crying.
After several appearances the judge must have thought to himself, “Oh no, not her again!” In verse 5 the judge admits that she is bothering him. The word translated as “bothering” literally means, “to poke in the eye”. He was getting upset because she was constantly in his face. Her nagging and crying and begging finally paid off for her and the judge ruled in her favor. She got what she needed because she never gave up asking for it.
In this parable, Jesus teaches us three important principles about prayer that works. The first one is: Pray – Don’t worry! The widow did not sit at home wringing her hands and worrying about her problem. Instead, she got up and went to the only person who could help her. She went to the judge. That is what we need to do. We need to stop worrying and go to the One who can help us, Jesus Christ. When we face a challenging circumstance, we can either lose heart and worry about it, or we can pray about it. We need only remember that God loves us and cares for us.
There is a story about a man who owned a construction company. He was losing sleep worrying about some financial problems that he was facing with his company. One morning after another night filled with worry, the man opened his Bible and devotional guide. That morning’s reading was from Matthew 6, where Jesus commanded His followers not to worry. Jesus said, “Consider the sparrows, they neither plant nor harvest, or store in barns, but your Heavenly father takes care of them, and you are much more valuable to Him than the sparrows.” The man’s devotional guide spoke about how God cares for the birds so much that when a single sparrow falls dead to Earth, God is aware and God cares. The verse at the end was 1 Peter 5:7 which says, “Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.”
A few days earlier on the job site, they had been removing trees and the man had noticed that one of the trees had a nest with baby birds in it. He marked the tree and ordered that it not be cut down. But on this day, he realized the tree would have to come down because he could not delay the project any longer. He had a bucket truck lift him to the bird’s nest and when he looked in he saw that the birds had learned to fly and were gone from the nest. Since he was up there already, the man removed the nest and took it home with him.
Now, you know that birds use all kinds of scraps and twigs and things to build a nest. The man discovered that this bird had used straw, twigs and even some little strips of paper to make this nest. He removed one small sliver of paper and found these words written upon it; “God cares for you.” Today the man’s business is doing better, and he keeps the bird’s nest in his office.
The second prayer principle is: Pray Persistently – Don’t quit. The widow did not just ask for justice to be granted one time and then give up. She continued to ask and ask and ask. Have you ever asked God for something and when He did not grant your request immediately, quit praying? The most effective prayers in the Bible are those that were prayed persistently. King David says in Psalm 55:16-17, “I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.”
In an Old Testament story, Hannah desperately wanted a child. For many years she prayed and prayed about it. She never gave up and after many years God gave her a son, Samuel, the mighty prophet.
Even Jesus prayed persistently. In the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus was pouring His heart out to God the Father. His burden was so great that Jesus was actually sweating drops of blood. Three times Jesus asked the Father to “take this cup from Me” and He finished with, “But not My will but Thy will be done.” The Father heard His prayer and gave Him the strength and resolve to face the cross.
Persistence is an important factor in prayer, and it is a very valuable commodity for every area of your Christian life. God blesses those who persist. So, whatever it might be that you are facing at this time, don’t give up! One of the largest clubs in America these days is “The Quitters Club”. You may never have heard of the Quitters Club, because they never meet – the members quit coming! There are no dues – the members quit paying them! The Quitters Club is comprised of people who faced a tough marriage, a tough job or a tough sickness, and they quit. There is the old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Well, the Quitters Club motto is, “When the going gets tough, the quitters get going, away.”
In America and the Church today, we need more people of persistence. We need more folks with old fashioned “stick-to-it-iveness”! God has always honored and rewarded persistence.
You know, I have been a professional football fan since I was very young. I have always liked the great running backs, like Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith. In all 13 years of playing pro football, Emmitt Smith ran for 16,743 yards. That is 9.5 miles. That is less than one mile per year. Heck, I walk 3.5 miles every time I go to the YMCA. So what is so great about a guy running only 9.5 miles in 13 years? I’ll tell you what is so great about that. Emmitt Smith had 11 huge defensive football players trying to stop him from going anywhere, let alone 9.5 miles. He got those 9.5 miles 4.3 yards at a time. That means he was knocked down by those defensive players 3,983 times!
You know what Emmitt Smith did after each time he was tackled and knocked down by a big defensive player? He got right back up and ran the ball again. Oh yes, he did get injured from time to time, but he came back to run again. Personally, I am impressed with a person who can be knocked down almost 4,000 times and still they get up and run some more.
Everyone gets knocked down in life from time to time, even the best of them. But what sets them apart from the quitters is that they get right back up and go again. You will face people and situations in life that will knock you right off your feet! The poor widow had been knocked off her feet, but she refused to stay down. You have an adversary who will knock you flat every chance he gets to try to make you stop praying. His name is Satan and he doesn’t want you to pray. He wants you to quit.
George Mueller, a great English preacher of the past wrote these words about praying; “The point is never to give up until the answer comes. I have been praying for 63 years and 8 months for one man’s conversion. He is not saved yet, but he will be. How can it be otherwise? I am praying.” George Mueller died and the man was still not saved. But as they lowered Mueller’s casket into the grave, the man repented of his sins and trusted Jesus as His Savior.
The third prayer principle is: Pray Positively – Don’t Doubt. We are represented by the widow in this morning’s parable, but is God like the crooked judge? Do we have to pester and coerce Him before He will answer our prayers? No. Not at all. Parables not only contain comparisons, they also contain contrasts. Jesus used the judge as the opposite or antithesis of our Heavenly Father. Remember Jesus said, “And will God not bring justice to His chosen ones? Will He not answer their prayers quickly?” We must expect God to answer our prayers. If we do not, if we doubt that we will receive an answer, chances are we won’t.
In James 1, we are told that when we pray for wisdom God will give it to us generously. Then James adds a powerful warning about letting doubt creep into our prayers. James says, “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave on the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.”
Now, hear this promise we have from 1 John 5:14-15. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of Him.” The difference is learning to pray positively, without doubting He will answer.
So what is it that you need? Have you quit praying about it? Do not stop praying no matter how long it has been. Continue to pray positively. Get rid of the doubt. Expect God to answer you. No matter what, P.U.S.H. – Pray Until Something Happens! Amen.